장음표시 사용
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have been noticed, especialty the sollowing, cited by Μ. Κestner, inoremarks that among other versions of this subjeci occurring in ΜSS., either in the texi Only or accompanted by illustrations, the following may he noted. Fimi, thereare German ΜSS. with different versions os the texi, os 1443 and I 449, in the Royal Libra os Μunich, and two othere at Heidelberg, as described by Μassmann. In most instances these German venions, like the series of German devices, are accompanted by an introductorysermon addreSSed to Pope , and at the end a second discourae soander Presing . One ΜSS. has also a third, reviewing the whole series os the ordinary common-places usualty set sortii concerning the uncertaintyos lise. In the illustrations, the Ρreacher and his assistants are almost
invariably figures os Death. Among other ΜSS. containing the P Dance os Death, ' cited by Μ. Κestner as heing in the Bibliothhque Impἡriale at Paris,
Some Contain only the Verses without any illustration ; and in one os these the Doctor V is called Μachaher, Whether merely as a stroke os satire it is climcult to determine. One of the ΜSS. thus cited is illustraled with very finely wrought miniatures, and has the fame verses as the early-printeo French editions, and was probably executed about the fame time. A ΜΝ. in the Escuriat, said to be much earlier, is assigne 1 to the I qui century, and is called U La Danga generat de Muerte, ' &c. ; hut the titie accoros socioselywith that os the French-printed editions, with the exception os the omissionos the word Mac re, that the work looks more like one of the I 5ui centurythan the I4th. One of the most remarkable instances in whicli this subjectis introduced in a Μ S. executed in the first half of the Isth century, occum in a volume noW fore me, the property of William Bratae, Esq. , of Shirle Hill, near Shemeld, who has hindly allowed me to carry it away for a time Dom the shelves of his library, which abounds in bibliographical treaSures of great interest and curiosity. In Μr. Bragge's ΜS. the usual series of devices is connected by a licti scrotl-work of richly-coloured foliage, in the adroitly-artistic manner peculiar to the illuminators of the Period, So as to form omamentat borderings to the two fini pages of the Service for the Dead, to which they form enrichments of a more than usualty elaborate and appropriate Character. The armorial bearings upona shield attached to one ol the first illuminations of this ΜS. appear tofumest that it was executed sor a Duke of Burgundy ri, or an immediate connection os that duces family, and was probably, judging srom the figuresos a bride and bridegroom in the principat border, a Wedding present. These two figures appear, indeed, to be those of a duke and duchess os Burgundri Who are accosted by a grim figure of Death. Immediatelybelow them is a king addoessed in a similar manner, vidently, by therobe embroidered with fleurs-de-lis, a hing os France ; while below are ai Pope and an emperor, the lalter evidently the Emperor os Germany ; andisom about this period the king and the emperor are nearly always rePresented by a king of France and an emperor of Germany. The Death whichwietes the Pope carries a cossin, as in most of the more recent devices, though, in Some cases, it is exchanged sor a mattock or a grave-digger'Aspade. The devices of this particular class are cleverly adapted to theso s os the borders in whicli they are introduced,-a child snalched
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the top. mese devices are superior in generat artistic merit to those of the fini printed books, whicli they preceded by perham more thantials a century. They are also heiter than most os the frescoes, otwhicli I have seen good sac-similes, except the Italian one os Clusone ;and in potnt os hio finisti and gracesul treaiment they are superior toany other versions os the subjeci previous to that which emanated Dom thegenius os Holbein. Besore procee ling to describe the fimi examples os the Dance of Death in the form os printed books, as they occur in the successive editions in whicli the subjeci gradually assumed the forms whicli culminateclin the matchless designs attrihuted to Holbein, it will not be without interest to allude, very briefly. to what is known regarding the pictorial illustration os the Dance os Death in England, previousj to the time olHolbein. Felibien, the celebrated French archaeologist and architectiwho in the reim os Louis XIV. collected so many interesting particulam connected with the history os ari in the middie ages, has stated, incidentalin in his V History os the Antiquities of Paris,' that the idea of the V Danceos Death V ori inaleae in England ; but those who have cited his statementio that effect have not observed that he is evidently alluding to the church-yard dances, and not to the actuat poem or iis illustrations. Νevertheless, it is noW ascertained that the subject hecame at an early period os iis development as popular in England as in the Continent. Sir Thoma&More, sor instance, spealis of the Daunce of Death pictured in Paules and Stowe, in his V Antiquities of London,' has given a somewhat delailectaccount osit. It appears that UJohn Carpenter, town-clerk of London in the reim of Henry VI., caused, With great expenSe, to M painted unonhoard, about the north cloister of St. Paul's, a monument os Death leadineali estates, with the speeches of Death, and the answer of every State; Vand these paintings appear to have remained intact tili they were remoVed, aster the Reformation, by order of the Protector Somerset. In another place, Stowe Spealis of the subjecis in question as the Dance of Μacha-Dray, ' and Says it was like the one patnted about the Innocents' cloister at Paris. The Umetres or poesies, ' that is to say the deScripti Ve. Verses appended in the continental versions to each of the subjecis, Were tranS-lated into Englisti by the poet John Lydgate, and have been preServel
the description os that book. In many of the early versions of the Dances os Death, V aster the example started at Basle, portraiis of well- known charactem mere introduced by way os giving extra piquancy to the devices, an interesting example of whicli occum in the St. Paul's series, in which a portrait of Rehyli, the royal juggler, or tregetour, in thereim os Henry V., whose emgy was introduced, accompanted by a special set of verses, in Which Death addresses him in the usual lainion,
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There the antic sits V would reatly seem to reser very directly to thegrotesque altitude os the grinning sheleton, who sita bellind the Emperor in the Holbein series, in the act of discrowning him. As another example os Englisti versions os the Dance of Deatli,' Imay mention the tapestry worked with that subject in the Tower, which is referreo to in an inventory of the property belonging to Κing Idenry VIII., under the titie os the V Dance Macabre ; V and I may also cali attention to the beautilally-sculptured series of the usual devices of the subject whichstili exist in the decorations of the oah statis of St. Michael's, Coventry. The first appearnnce os the Dance of Death V in print was in the rudeform of the oblock-books, V in which both the illustrative devices and thetext were engraved upon blocks of wood of the fige of the entire page, inch page of the work, whether composed os a simple device, or a devicecombined with texi, or os text without a device, being printed stom a Single block of wood on which an entire page of the matter, illustrative ordescriptive, was engraved. The application of wood-engraving to the production os cheap books in the form described appears to have come intouse about the bestinning os the Isth century; and the subject of the V Dance of Death ' having attained great popularity at that time, it is somewhat surprising that it did not sem one os the fimi and most Dequently-trealed subjecta os the engravem os block-bookS ; the more eSpecialty as iis extent was precisely suited to the narrow capacities os that classos volume. ' But so sar stom this being the case, I only know of two examples, both excessively rude in desim and execution. In the first os these, which I examined in the Royal Libra at Munich, which is unusualty rich in iis collection of block-books,-the order of the subjecis
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is, in the main, that whicli is found in the late printed versions, the fidit heing the Death-summons os the Pope. the second that os the Emperor, thethird that of the Cardinat, the fourth that of the Κing, &c. The treaiment, however, is disserent, in many respecis, stom that more generalty adopted, the figure os Death not Ming always in the usual dancing altitude ; sorinstance, in addressing the Pope he has talien his seat by the fide os thepapal throne, and quietly strikes up the tune os his sates clance on theba ipe. This mode os proceeding is perhaps intended as a Lind of
deference to the exalted rank of the Pope, then d med the fidit among the princes os the earth, and who is theresore granted a seW moments of preparation; sor in most os the other subjecis the victim is at onceactively clutched by a clancing Death. The cuts in this smali volume are rudely coloured, and accompanted by German verses roughly written byhand on the opposite page. Juding stom the somewhat primitive artistic treaiment of this series os devices, I should seel inclined to assim it to a Very early date, the more especialty as the character os the designs cloes notappear to have as yet salien into the regular conventionat so whicli theyeventuatly assumed. The mere laci os excessive rudeness os execution, it may be asserted, is no guide whatever as to date, inferior arti sis havingexecuted block-books os the very rudest hino at a period when the art hadattained to iis greatest perfection. But other characteristim Of this production also suggest an early date ; and it is not without interest to note that the style of the devices, especialty in the repulsive seatures of the Anahe-Bke creatures whicli are twined about and eating through the flesh of the figures of Death, very closely resemble those of the earlien known edition ith the texi printed hom moveabie types, namely, the V Doden Danig, in the library of StraSbourg. The only other specimen os a block-book Dance of Death V whicli Ihave Seen is the one preserved at Heidelberg, in whicli the whole series is as coarsely executed as the Μunicii specimen, While the conception is sar less repulsive, and the Style os art purer and in every Waysuperior. Each Sullaeci is accompanted by German Verses placed above
character, would Serve to add somewhat to the evidence in savour of the German origin os the V Dance of Death, V either with or without illustrations ; and it is to he observed, that there were other German versions which have not come down to us, aS the German verses attached to the devices of the work under description are evidently not those stom whicli Desreys made his Latin translation for the versions asterwards publislied in
France, though os the fame import. Μy supplemental plate ΝΟ. I osse Death and the Knight, ' the twelsili device os this series, wili conveya lair generat idea of the treaiment of the other subjects ; it is hals the fige of the original. The armour of the knight serves to fix the date of this work as that of the first half of the Isth century. We now come to the books os the UDance of Death V printed withmove te types in the newly-invented V Printing Press -that greatest result of the mentat activity and Progress of the stirring Isth centurn It
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-appeam mmewhat extraordinary that very sew German versions os the Dance of Death, V and those uncertain as to date, appear to have imuedisom the German printing-press, between the time of iis rabus in Μayence, with Gutenberius magnificent Bible in I 453, and the fini est lishment of the printing-press in Paris in I 47o, especialty as the German presses had greatly multiplied during that period, and works os almost every class hadheen issued. According to Μammann, however, ex edingly early editions of the V Dance of Death diae issue hom the German presses. This leamedhibliophilist actualty assigns one undated edition to I 459, and another in I 47o ; but these assumed dates are os a litoly speculative character, and the fimi edition to whicli an approximate date can be assigned with any degree
Of probability, is that discovered in the public libra of Strasbouin byΜ. Jung, in I 852, which is attributed to the year Ioo, a date to which both
Panger and Florillo assign German editions of the Todten Tanig. V It has heen most minutely described by Μ. Κestner in his recent work. The illustrations os that Volume are, as previousty stated, in the style os those of the Μunich block-book, and equalty repulsive, though very superior in potnt os execution. The book is a smali solio, said to be printed at Strasbourg, thena city within the limits of the German empire, and is entilled U Die Doten Da , mit figuren, V &c. &C. As sar as we know at Present, this appeam tohe the first authentic edition of this singular work ever produced by the printing-preM ; and it is Worthy os remark that this, as weli as other early German editions, is simply styled the Dance of Death, V with no allusion to the term Mambre, Which may tum out to belOng only to those versions os which the illustrations are Munded, on the origines French paintino at the InnocentS', M PreViouSty suggested. Should the wpposed date of I48o prove Correct, the StraSbouin Volume may be the very edition hom inita GuyΜarchant used the verses for his French edition, and hom whicli Desreysaste arcis made his Latin translation isom the German, as stated in the titie to one of the earliest of the editions of the ' Danse Mac re. VThe Dance os Death V is sollowed in this rare volume by the dialogues of the Three Dead and Three Livi V and a sew other pieces. The nexi German editions at present known are those of L ech, dated respectively I496 and Is Io, both bearing the fame titie as the Str bourgvolume, both being subsequent to the earliest French editions. The earliest edition os the Dance of Death V printed in France was, asjust stated, that issued by Guy Μarchant in I 483, entilled, as we have Seen, o La Danse Macabre,' &c. &c. It was a smali solio volume. with the illustrations neatly executed in oviline, with lem vigour than the German devices os the Strasbouin volume, but also without their more repulsive adjuncis. The fimi illustration to this edition is a cui representing the author at his desh, in the usual style in Whicli that subject was treated in the Isthcentury, whether in ΜS S. or in printed books. Beneain the device is theauthor's ad tress to his readers, in dotaret verse, which I ove belo together With a Dee translation :-
Qui destre vie siternelle, Tua cy doctrine notable Pour bien finir vie mortelle
o reasoning ones, of human kind, Is ye would earn eternal lise, The doctrines herein ye may findTo sinish weli this mortat striis.
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These verses, as weli as ali those which reser to the individual subjecis,so ing additions to the original legend of the Three Dead and the Three Living. In the nexi illustration we find two fheletons represented, cach sumi eclwith a disserent hind os musical instrument, upon which they appear to beplaying the grim tunes to which their victims will be compelled to clance. This is a seature much enlarged upon in the subsequent treaiment of the subject by more adu ced artisis, untii the group of victims of the introducto illustration eventuatly became known as the V orchestra os Death, and it is somelimes termed the Triumph os Death, the scene heing trans formed into a grand processionat march, in which victims os ali ranks aresollowing the music os Death to their doom. The growth of this device is curious. One of the block-book editions Ι have noticed is altogetherwithout ii, while in Guy Marchant's first edition, now under description, we find only two figures, as in the mural devices, while in the Strasti urgedition os I 48o Mur had atready appeared. Beneath the two figures of Death are their respective addresses which seem like mere amplifications
os those beloning to the legend os the Three Living and the Three Dead Vi, the first os whicli is reproduced below, with a Dee Englisti
translation :-Vous par divine sentence All men, hy a divine decree, 9ui vives en estata divers, Who live in hish or low estate, Tous, dansereE ceste danse Must clance this clance along with me Une lais et bons, &c. Τo their inevitabie sate.
These paSSages appear to ShoW very clearly that the idea of suta a series of devices was, as in the original legend, Simply a form of warning to prepare for death ; and it may be remarhed also that, far stom the figures of the victims themselves being made to exhibit those contortions which were thelatat symptoms of the Dancing Plague V of the I 3th century, the rudelydrawn figures in this series appear stolidly inactive, as though paralyzed by the suddenness of the fatal summons ; while Death, on the other hancl, cuismerry capere as he drags each neW pariner into the sated dance. It is, there re, not so much a clance os the victims as literalty that of Death himself, triumphing in his work, that was represented, both by the name anathe devices os this singular patiated drama, Which is so peculiarly character- istic both os the tone of thought and also of the special direction taken byari in the I3th, I4th, and Isth centuries. The series os subjecis in Guy Marchant's Danse Macabre V is orderedwith a scrupulous regard to the conventionat arrangementS of SOClely,
regarding the righis os priority which belonged to disserent sociat conditions stom the hioest to the lowest ; and though Death in almost every subjectinvariably announces himself in the texi as a non- respecter of State orstation, the artist and the author have not seli themselves in the fame
independent position in the marshalling of their personages ; but have
seli compellet to the punctilious observances of well-trained heralds,or accomplis ted masters of the ceremontes. Consequently, besore evenemperors or hings, comes the Pope, to whom Death assigns the first place, as he thus adclresses him in verses Whicli I have translated as sollows :
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A potent signor such as Fou In this, at least, must honoured be, For to the great is honour dum
appreciate this delicate attention as he
It is in this lainion that Death invites one aster another to his dance, and that his parinem in tum reply, each acknowledong in tum that resistance is useless. In the order of the devices the Emperor, habited asthe Emperor os Germany, sollows the Pope, but the Κing does not comenext. Aster the Emperor, in those days os ecclesiastical Supremacy, comesthe Cardinal the second dignita of the Church taking precedence os thesecond in rank among temporal princes. In the fame spirit .os caresullystudied arrangement, the Legate precedes the Duke. In the marshallingos the prolassions and trades, however, down to the minstret, the jailer, and the agricultural labourer, no espectat order is observed. The French verses of the sirst editions published in France have been, curiousty enough, attributed by no less an authority than warton to Μichel Marot, the son os the celebrated Clement Marot, the translator os the Psalms os David into French verse,-a supposition whicli is singularly erroneous, in much as Clement Marot himself was not bom tili I 493, ten years aster the appearance os Marchant's edition of the ' DanseΜac re. V It is, however, possibie that they were translations stom the
have written them, as he nourished at the precise time, and is known toliave composed verses of that hind, while the desecis of the verses in question precisely agree with those signatized by French critics as disfiguring the poetical productions of the nnt of the Mamis. By whomsoever theseverses may have been written, they frequently possess not only muchcleverly-turned satire, but also display occasionat flaines os genuine poetry ; So much so, in laci, that Μ. Κ estner conceived the idea os seliing aselection os them to music in the form os a cantata not altogether dissimilar in plan to Μendeisso in's V Walpurgis Night ; V and with this vlew, he secured the services of Μ. Edouard Thiero to recast them in the mould os modem verse, which that osted writer has done With the etest os true genius, some passages os this new version os the Epopέe Lugubre V being exceedinglyheautisul, as the sollowing example os his remodeliing of the dialognebetween Death and the Child may serve to inow, even in the paraphrased translation which I have appended :-
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Another edition appeared in I 486, to which was added, sor the fimi
time, a speciat ' Danse Mambre des Femmes.' This volume is also ofextreme rarity. It is entilled ULa Grande Danse Μacabre des Hommes et des Femmes, avec les diis des trois moris et trois visi, te debat du corps et de l'ame, la complainte de l'ame damnόe et l'enseiment pour bien vivre et bien mourir.' The titie os ULa Grande Dan se V denotes of courae a surther extension os the subjeci, Whicli is, in laci, directly alluded to in the epilogue or colophon as sollows :- Ilere endg the illustraled Dance of Μacabre,' augmented by Severat newpersonages and fine axioms,V- snula Danse Macabra, istoriae et au mentis de Husimn nouum serranna es αδ aux diu. V The supposed connection belween the ULegend of St. Μacarius V and the Danse Mac re' is, as some have thought, stronglysupported by the introduction os the hemit with his discourge, supposed bysome to be intended sor St. Macarius himself, but who may rather hethe French Saint Fulberi, somelimes speli Philiberi, Who wrote an essaysimilar to that mund attached to the device of the hermit in the Frencheditions os ULa Dan se Μamhre.' Soon aster the appearance of the edition of I485, Verard is Supposed to lime issued his solio version, of whicli there is a rudely- coloured copy in the Bibliothhque Impέriale. Asmaller edition os about the Same period is also attributed to Verard, of
whicli there is a very finely illuminated copy in the Bibliothhque Impόriale,
printed on vellum on one si de Only, the deVices being so exquisitely colourecland illuminated that they rival tho miniatures of the finest ΜSS. In I4 a Latin edition was issued by Godsrey de Μarnes, at the sim os The Peli- can, in the Rue St. Jacques, With his naine and printer's main attached, the texi being translated Dom the German into Latin, as stated in the titie, by Peter Desreys. In the subsequent editions os Desreys' version theallusion to the German origines is in the following words :- Versibus Allemanicis id est, in morem ac modos rithmorum Germanicorum compositis , ' froan whicli it might be inferred that it was the metre of the German verses rather than their matter that had been adopted. This is a large quarto edition, the figures of whicli are very superior to those in the editions os Guy Μarchant. The subjecis are in patre, Something after the manner of those in the celebrated P Speculum Humanae Salvationis, Vsurrounded by a framework or canopy os architectural character. The Pope,
in this edition, is led ofs by a Death, who with his right arm supporis a cossin ; the Emperor being evidently intended, as in the edition of I485, for the Emperor of Germany, as indicated by the double-headed eates onhis robe ; 'hile the Κing is as evidently the Κing os France. It was either this edition, or the fine Lyons quarto os I 494, whicli serveo
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as the modet sor the sully eques, is not superior, Work published at Troyes by Νicholas te Rouge in I 328. The Lyons edition os I 494 just alluded to,
whicli Mars no publisher's name, is a very remarkable work, the platerepresenting the figures of negroes at the gate os the cemetery being, as in the Mames and Le Rouge editions just allu ted to, conspicuous seatures, while the supplemental subjects of , Death and the printem, and Death and thebookseller, are very interesting. Although a later production than the Mames edition, the stamework of the subject is Gothic, as shown in the annex dsupplemental plate fai, while that of the Μames edition is in the style of the Renaissarice. In I492 appeared the edition os Gillet Coustian, a copyos which was sold in I 86a in La Salle Silvestre sor I, IN stancs ; and in I 5Ο Νicholas de la Barre, at the sim os the Arms of France, in the Rue de laHarpe, publiAhed a very rude version os the Danse Macabre, V withillustrations in the style of those os Guy Marchant. In this poor editionseverat of the devices are repeated, and made to do duty three or Mur times over ; sor instance, the figure os the astrologer serves also as that os thesChoolmaster. This edition contains also The Three Dead and the Three Living. V There is a copy os it in the British Μuseum, stom whicli severat os the devices were engraved in sacsimile hy Samuel and Richard Bentley, who publiined twenty-five copies on vellum and twenty-five onPaper, one of the fimi named os whicli I have recently examineo in bir. Bragge's library, and Mund the style of the originat weli preserved. Besore the treaiment of the subject by Hothein, other French editions appeared in rapid succession, of which the solio ing may be named :-
his leamed article Ueher die Toden tange, V nor Brunet, in his more recentlist, nor even Μ. Mammann and Μ. Kestner, the latest authorities onthe subjeci, have as yet succeeded in doing. It may he weli to note, however, that Previousty to the entirely original treaiment of the subjecthy Holbein. severat versions of the German series, under the generic litteos the VI odien Dantet V variousty spelli had appeared, among whichthe Lubeck editions os I496 and Isao are especialty mentioned by Μ. Μ smann, and also that the Grande Danse Macabre V was frequently copieri, in an extremely rude manner, especialty by Νicholas Rouge and Jehan Lecocq, os Troyes, who, after issuing Some fine editions, appear to have made a special trade os preparing cheap books of the hind sor the periodicat laim, which were very inferior to most of theother versions. The hlocks os one of these rude Troyes editions are stillin existence, and have been recently discovered and used to print a modem edition by Μ. Homeman, of Lille. I have to remark also in this placethat it is not possibie to pass over Without note the treaiment os this
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effective and hight y-finished execution, considering their miniature dimensions, is osten quite extraordinary. The annexed specimen wili convey a savou rabie idea of the artistic clevemess os these effective litile compositions, which are persect mameis os the aris of the engraver and designer at that early epoch. They have not, however, the artistic freedom, nor the profusion os symbolic enrichment, which vas very goon aste ards destineo tobe insused in to the subjeci. The advance whicli the aris os designing and engraving achieved during the first ten or tu elue years of the I 6th centu WaS, indoed, so marvellous and so rapid, that it seems more like an artistichound than a steady advance ; it Was, as it were, a Sudden dash os progress,
stimulated in the highest degree by the striking genius of a galaxy os greatand original artisis uilio appeared in Germany at that epoch, the greatest among Whom Was Hans Holbein, and his great contemporaries Alberi Durer and Lucas Cranach. Tahing into consideration this rapid artistic movement, it is easy to Conceive that the treatinent of such a subjeci as the Dance os Death V wouldbe lihely to present strihing evidences of that adVance, presenting, RS it cloes, a field sor artistic imagination and execution Such as Scarcely any other series os subjecis could surnish. It assorded, incleed, those rare opportunitlas sor the mingling of the serious and the humorous, of the tragic and the comic, Whicli, Perhaps, no other Subjecis in the form os a series could
Sandrnari, in his V Lise of Rubens, V telis us that that celebrated artistosten declared he had derived great advantage stom studying the compositions of Holbein's V Dance of Death, V anil critics have too hastily jumped tothe conclusion that, as there was a celebrated Dance of Death at Basle, and as Hothein was by birili a Basilean, he must necessarily be the author osit ; thus arriving at the erroneous conclusion that a V Dance OL Death V at Basle, by Holbein, was necessarily the one alluded to by Sandraart. I however, Sandraari's work be examined a litile more thoroughly, we shallfind that, while describing a remarkable portrait of Henry VIII. by Holbein, in the palace of Whitehall, he goes on to say that there is another Work in that hvilding which constitutes that painter the very Apelles of his art ; and Μr. Douce was os opinion that a V Dance of Death V was possibiy alluded